Complete Scores (NCSSAA website)
LINCOLN, Neb. – It was a record-setting weekend for Concordia University Shooting Sports, which rose to a new level in the discipline of trap. Led by the team’s top overall shooter Tanner Muff, the Bulldogs placed second HOA (high overall) out of 11 teams at the Midland Warrior Open (Sept. 17-18). The team’s top five shooters combined to crack 1,399 targets. Both Muff and Katie Welker ran 100 straight in trap in eye-popping performances.
This was the second time out this fall for Head Coach Dylan Owens’ squad. Concordia also placed second at the Fort Hays State Collegiate Shoot the previous week. In the latest event, 26 Bulldogs competed in Lincoln, Neb.
“They’re taking the steps that are needed,” Owens said. “The mental game is always the toughest thing to conquer. As far as changing fundamental things, I saw several of our athletes gain targets over their previous scores because they have made incremental improvements over time. I’m really proud of Tanner and what he did. It’s really cool to have Tanner and Katie break 100 in trap. The goal is to get to five athletes to 288 (HOA) by the national championships. We had five people get pretty close.”
Muff and Welker are only freshmen, but they looked like seasoned vets while cracking every target during trap competition. Meanwhile, three Bulldogs shot 99 in trap: Ames Andelt, Sam Blevins and Wayne Moore. Their combined efforts put the team trap score at a near spotless 497 and edged Fort Hays State (495) for first place in that particular discipline. The previous trap school record had been 491 set last season.
A Lincoln Southwest High School alum, Muff represented well at the Warrior Open, hosted in his hometown at Lincoln Trap & Skeet Club. Not only did he shoot 100 in trap, Muff also totaled 96 in skeet and 89 in sporting clays for an HOA figure of 285. Only three shooters in the entire event turned in a higher score than Muff. The remainder of Concordia’s top five HOA were Wyatt Hambly (283), Moore (278), Breyer Meeks (277) and Buchannan Tietjen (276). The team’s top three female shooters were Emily Uitermarkt (261), Jessie Ciezki (252) and Angie Wolfert (252).
In other disciplines contested at the Warrior Open, the Bulldogs placed second in sporting clays (438) and fifth in skeet (481). Hambly paced the team in sporting clays with a score of 92 and Blevins led the way in skeet with a 97.
The Warrior Open served as one of a few national qualifying events for Concordia. Starting this season, the Bulldogs are competing under the umbrella of the National Collegiate Shooting Sports Athletic Association (NCSSAA). Athletes must meet a minimum standard in terms of average scores at national qualifying shoots. Owens likes the way things are coming together.
Said Owens, “The team’s goal for nationals is a 1,440 – 41 targets from our goal five or six months away is something I’m pretty happy about. We want to keep chasing higher standards.”
Next up will be the Prairie Circuit Conference Championships held in North Platte, Neb., this Friday through Sunday. Under previous head coach Scott Moniot, Concordia won the conference title in the fall of 2020. A year ago, the Bulldogs were the conference runner up behind the Prairie Circuit individual titlist in Hambly.